As defined by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., a 501(c)(3) Colorado corporation, established in 1985 to benefit the public by granting the CFP® certification and upholding it as the recognized standard of excellence for competent and ethical personal financial planning.
There are six steps to the financial planning process:
- Establishing and defining the client-planner relationship
- Gathering client data, including goals and objectives
- Analyzing and evaluating the client’s current financial status
- Developing and presenting recommendations and/or alternatives
- Implementing the recommendations
- Monitoring the recommendations
Financial planning subject areas denote the basic subject fields covered in the financial planning process, including but not limited to the following:
- Financial statement preparation and analysis with cash flow planning/budgeting
- Insurance planning, risk management and asset protection
- Employee benefits planning
- Investment planning and portfolio design
- Income tax planning
- Retirement planning
- Estate and gift planning
- Closely held business start-up and succession planning
